Features

The Bforartists features at a glance

Note that the features are the same than in Blender. Where we differ is the UI and the handling. Below the features you can find the differences!

Rendering

Rendering is the process of generating an image from a 2D or 3D model, that's how you create your images.

Bforartists contains an old renderer called Blender Internal. And a newer one called Cycles.The built-in Cycles rendering engine offers GPU & CPU rendering, a Realtime viewport preview, HDR lighting support, and many more features.

Modeling

No 3D software without modeling. You have to create your meshes somehow.

Bforartists offers a wide range of tools for polygon modeling. Many tools supports Ngons. And there is also Python scripting, with which you can perform and automate more than one modeling task.

Materials

Materials defines the surface of your 3D models.

The BIender Internal renderer offers an traditional material approach. Cycles offers a node based workflow with all the needed features of a modern renderer. It uses its own shader language called Open Shading Language, short OSL.

Rigging

Where there is a bones system there is rigging. It's the process to connect your Mesh with the bones system.

And once you have done the mapping you can paint directly onto the mesh.

Compositor

Bforartists comes with a built in compositor.

The compositor comes with a library of nodes for creating camera fx, color grading, vignettes and much more, supports Render-layers and Full compositing with images and video files. Is Multithreaded. And gives the ability to render to mulitlayer Open Exr files.

Simulations

Bforartists offers a range of simulation tools too. The range goes from Fluid, Smoke, Hair, Cloth, Particles up to full Rigid Body physics.

Extensions

Since Bforartists is a Blender fork, you can use the full range of Blender addons inside Bforartists too. There are already quite a few onboard. Some of them already enabled, some still disabled.

The range of plugins goes from various generators, like for trees or terrains, across fracture scripts, 3d printing toolboxes up to various im- and export scripts.

File Formats

Bforartists comes with various import and export formats to support a pipeline to many different programs. The range goes across the common 2D file formats like Jpg, PNG, OpenEXR, or Tiff, and various 3D file formats like Obj, X, FBX or Collada.

Scripting

Bforartists comes with Python support. Python is a programming language that is widely used in the CG area. With Python you can change the UI since most of the parts are also made with Python. And you can write Bforartists Addons.

Interface

Bforartists comes with a new UI concept. It is highly customizable, and offers an easy to access and to use graphical UI.

The useage is UI centered.

That's where Bforartists is equal to Blender. The features. But there is of course a reason for the fork. The points where we differ from Blender. And that's mainly the user interface and the handling.

The Differences to Blender:

A brand new Keymap with Left Click select, which is reduced to just the necessary hotkeys.

Cleaned up User Interface. More than 600 not necessary double menu entries removed.

Extended User Interface. Close to 100 formerly hotkey only tools have a menu entry now.

Rearranged User Interface. Some things are better accessible now, some are not so much in the way anymore.

700 new native icons.

Icon Buttons in the Tool Shelf to reduce the scrolling.

A configurable Toolbar with icon buttons.

Improved Layouts.

Better Tooltips.

Better readable standard theme.

Some neat new addons to improve usability, like the reset 3D View addon or the Important Hotkey addon.

And lots more small details like hidable 3D Cursor or Wireframe Colors. Or that you can now delete objects and selections without the delete menu quiz.

This all leads to a much intuitiver and easier to use interface. But the code is just half of the show. Another important bit are the non code things.

The Bforartists usage is centered around the graphical menu, not hotkeys. Bforartists relies at an intuitive and self explaining graphical UI in the first place. And then the hotkeys.

The target audience for Bforartists are hobbyists and indie developers. Blender tries to target professionals. But most of them don't care for various reasons.

A better manual. The Blender manual is in big parts unsearchable, has an odd structure, and relies heavily at the Blender keymap to name just a few flaws, making it unusable for users. That's why we rewrite it, piece by piece.

Official learning videos. No need to spend days with searching for the one tutorial that is understandable, for the actual version and is not a spelling lesson. This is also an ongoing project.

Bforartists is not bound to the Blender bubble. It has its own independant eco system.